Conflict of interest

Sometimes individual values conflict. For example, a particular circumstance might compromise -- or appear to compromise -- someone's professional judgments. Perhaps a researcher has a financial interest in a particular company, which might create a bias in scientific analysis affecting the future of that company. Or a journalist might receive a document to review off the record that discusses information similar to but a step ahead of an investigation being done by the reporter. These are difficult situations that require trade-offs and hard choices, and different communities will debate what is and is not proper when many of these situations arise.